Interactive book with detachable, pop-up device

ABSTRACT

A foldable consumer product, such as book or card, has a plurality of pages and a detachable toy, mask or other interactive amusement device attached to at least one of the pages. The detachable device is configured to pop-up or open upon exposing at least one of the pages, and may be thematically related to the subject matter of the book or card.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application and claims thebenefit of priority to PCT/US2006/037161, filed Sep. 25, 2006, whichclaims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/814,556, filedJun. 19, 2006, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated byreference in their entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention is directed generally to interactive books and greetingcards and, more particularly, to an interactive book or greeting cardwith a detachable pop-up device integrated into the book.

2. Related Art

Various attempts have been made to introduce children to reading andmake the reading experience more stimulating and enjoyable, especiallyfor young children. It has been found that illustrations play animportant role in attracting and maintaining a child's interest inreading. Hence, children's story books have been provided with large,colorful pictures illustrating the subject matter or the backgroundthereof. Pop-up books have been a very popular choice among parents andchildren because these pop-up books include hinged pop-up devices thatprovide surprise and amusement to the children. The ability to stimulatea child's imagination has been limited by currently available pop-upbooks as the pop-up devices have been physically integrated into book.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention improves upon commercially available pop-up books orgreeting cards by integrating a removable pop-up device, such as a toy,mask, or other amusement device, physically into the book or card, whichopens and/or pops out of the book or card as the pages are turned. Oncethe device is popped open, it can be detached from the book or card andindependently played with or interacted with by the child or user. Inthe case of a mask, it can be worn, and in the case of a toy oramusement device, it can be played with. The removable pop-up device ofthe invention may also be thematically related to the subject matter ofthe book or card. In this manner, the child's or user's imagination isfurther stimulated and enhanced beyond the normal reading experience.Once the removable device has been played with or interacted with, itmay be re-attached to the book or card for future use/enjoyment as apop-up feature. The invention may be implemented in a number of ways,and is not limited to books or cards, but may be used in various otherimplementations.

According to one aspect of the invention, an interactive book has a maskthematically related to the subject of the interactive book. The bookincludes at least one foldable surface having at least one of textualand visual material thereon. The mask is detachably connected to the atleast one foldable surface. The mask has a first compact position and asecond expanded position, and is convertible between the first andsecond positions when the at least one foldable surface is folded orunfolded.

The mask may pop up from the at least one foldable surface as the atleast one foldable surface unfolds, and the at least one foldablesurface may include two adjoining pages. The mask may be re-attachableto the at least one foldable surface. The book may further include anattachment device to detach and re-attach the mask to the at least onefoldable surface repeatedly. The attachment device may be at least oneof a hook-or-loop type fastener, snap, magnet, clip and sticky glue. Themask may include openings arranged corresponding to eyes of a wearer.The mask may include an elastic band connected to side portions of themask. The mask may further include tabs arranged on the side portions ofthe mask, and the tabs may be connected to the elastic band andconfigured to be bent backward when the mask is placed on a wearer'sface. The mask may be folded along folding lines to at least partiallyseparate the mask from the at least one foldable surface as the at leastone foldable surface unfolds.

According to another aspect of the invention, an interactive greetingcard has a mask thematically related to the subject of the interactivegreeting card. The greeting card includes at least one foldable surfacehaving at least one of textual and visual material thereon. The mask isdetachably connected to the at least one foldable surface. The mask hasa first compact position and a second expanded position, and isconvertible between the first and second positions when the at least onefoldable surface is folded or unfolded.

The mask may pop up from the at least one foldable surface as the atleast one foldable surface unfolds, and the at least one foldablesurface may include two adjoining pages. The mask may be re-attachableto the at least one foldable surface. The greeting card may furtherinclude an attachment device to detach and re-attach the mask to the atleast one foldable surface repeatedly. The attachment device may be atleast one of a hook-or-loop type fastener, snap, magnet, clip and stickyglue. The mask may include openings arranged corresponding to eyes of awearer. The mask may include an elastic band connected to side portionsof the mask. The mask may further include tabs arranged on the sideportions of the mask, and the tabs may be connected to the elastic bandand configured to be bent backward when the mask is placed on a wearer'sface. The mask may be folded along folding lines to at least partiallyseparate the mask from the at least one foldable surface as the at leastone foldable surface unfolds.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, a method of using aconsumer product having readable material and a pop-up devicethematically related to the readable material includes positioning theconsumer product such that the readable material may be seen, opening orexposing the pop-up device thematically related to the readablematerial, removing the pop-up device from the consumer product, playingwith the pop-up device, and re-attaching the pop-up device to theconsumer device for re-use.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, an interactive bookincludes means for folding and unfolding a foldable surface and meansfor amusing a reader. The amusing means is configured to pop up or openupon unfolding the foldable surface. The amusing means comprises meansfor interacting with a reader, and the interacting means is configuredto be detached from and reattached to the interactive book.

Additional features, advantages, and embodiments of the invention may beset forth or apparent from consideration of the following detaileddescription, drawings, and claims. Moreover, it is to be understood thatboth the foregoing summary of the invention and the following detaileddescription are exemplary and intended to provide further explanationwithout limiting the scope of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention, are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention andtogether with the detailed description serve to explain the principlesof the invention. No attempt is made to show structural details of theinvention in more detail than may be necessary for a fundamentalunderstanding of the invention and the various ways in which it may bepracticed. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 schematically shows a pop-up book or greeting card constructedaccording to the principles of the invention having a pop-up device inthe form of a mask detachably connected to the book or card;

FIG. 2 shows the detachable mask of FIG. 1 separated from the book orcard; and

FIG. 3 shows the pop-up book or card of FIG. 1 without the mask.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments of the invention and the various features andadvantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference tothe non-limiting embodiments and examples that are described and/orillustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the followingdescription. It should be noted that the features illustrated in thedrawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and features of oneembodiment may be employed with other embodiments as the skilled artisanwould recognize, even if not explicitly stated herein. Descriptions ofwell-known components and processing techniques may be omitted so as tonot unnecessarily obscure the embodiments of the invention. The examplesused herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of waysin which the invention may be practiced and to further enable those ofskill in the art to practice the embodiments of the invention.Accordingly, the examples and embodiments herein should not be construedas limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined solely by theappended claims and applicable law. Moreover, it is noted that likereference numerals represent similar parts throughout the several viewsof the drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a pop-up book or greeting card with adetachable object in the form of a mask connected thereto according toan embodiment of the invention. For ease of reference, this descriptionwill refer to the disclosed embodiment as a book. The pop-up book 10 mayinclude a conventional cardboard or paper-bound book 12 and a detachablemask 14. The invention may be employed in any type of object havingsurfaces that may be folded and opened to hide and show a detachableobject, such as mask 14. Thus, the invention is not limited toconventional books with pages and covers or greeting cards, but may beapplied to any other device such as a hinged, flap-type consumer productthat can be folded and opened. In the embodiment below, the product isdescribed as a pop-up book 10, which is very popular among children.

The pop-up book 10 may have a number of pages with readable print, text,graphics or other illustrations thereon, although only two pages areshown for ease of illustration. FIG. 1 shows two adjoining pages 30 a,30 b, which may be folded and connected to the hinge of the book alongthe transverse edge 28 a. As is known in the art, the object 14 may beconfigured to open or pop out of the book when the hinge mechanism ofthe binding of the book 12 is opened to expose the pages 30 a and 30 b.For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the detachable mask 14 is folded alongfolding transverse lines 16 a, 16 b, 16 c such that the detachable mask14 may be at least partially separated and pop-out from the pages 30 a,30 b when the book 12 is opened to expose the pages 30 a and 30 b.

The detachable mask 14 may be attached to the book 12 using anattachment mechanism, which may be any type of mechanism capable ofdetachably connecting the detachable mask 14 to the book 12. Forexample, FIG. 2 shows first fastener pieces 20 a, 20 b formed on therear surface of the detachable mask 14 and FIG. 3 shows second fastenerpieces 32 a, 32 b formed on the surfaces 30 a, 30 b, which may beremovably engaged together to attach and detach the mask 14 to and fromthe book 12. The fasteners may be any type of hook or loop-typefasteners such as those marketed under the VELCRO name. Any kind ofdetachable connection is contemplated by the invention including snaps,magnets, clips, post-it type glue or any other adhesive, or otherattachment mechanism known in the art to form a detachable connectionsuitable for the purposes described herein. Also, it is not necessary toattach the detachable mask 14 to both pages 30 a, 30 b. For example, thedetachable object 14 may be attached to only one page, as long as atleast a portion of the detachable mask 14 is configured to pop up oropen upon exposing the page 30 a or 30 b.

While the detachable object is shown in the form of mask 14, it may takeany form of any interactive device, toy (such as a building, animal,figure, car, bus, boat, train, airplane, rocket ship, etc.), or anyother amusement device. The detachable object may be thematicallyrelated to the subject matter (e.g., printed material) of the book 12 toenhance the learning experience or imagination of the child or otheruser For example, the book 12 may be about interesting animals, such aselephants or monkeys, and the mask 14 may be an attractive elephant ormonkey mask, respectively, to stimulate the child's imagination and playexperience. Thus, in FIG. 1, the detachable object 14 is an elephantface mask, which a child can detach from the book 12 and wear on his orher face. The openings 26 a, 26 b are located corresponding to the eyesof the wearer. The mask 14 may be equipped with an elastic band 24 tofix the mask 14 on the wearer's face. The elastic band 24 may be tied tothe holes 22 a, 22 b. The mask 14 may have cut-out portions in the formof die-cut tabs 18 a, 18 b located near the holes 22 a, 22 b, which maybe bent backward along the folding lines 16 b, and 16 c to provide morecomfortable fit to the wearer's face. After playing with the mask 14,the child or his or her parent can readily reattach the mask 14 to thebook 12 for re-use as a pop-up device

FIG. 1 shows the fastener pieces 20 a, 20 b formed at the cut-outportions 18 a, 18 b, but the locations of the pieces 20 a, 20 b can bechanged. The detachable object, such as mask 14, may be formed of anytype of material such as paper, board, plastic and the like. Also, asshould be clear from above, the detachable object 14 may be in any kindof shape or form. The detachable object, such as mask 12, also may beattached to a pop-up device that itself is attached, either fixedly orremovably, to the book itself.

FIG. 2 shows a rear review of the mask 14 detached from the book 12.FIG. 3 shows the book 12 without the mask 14. As shown therein, thefastener pieces 20 a, 20 b of the mask 14 and the fasteners pieces 32 a,32 b of the book 12 are arranged as complementary to each other to forma detachable connection. Also, as mentioned above, the elastic band 24is connected to the cut-off portions 18 a, 18 b via the holes 22 a, 22b. The die-cut tabs 18 a, 18 b may be bent backward to provide betterfit to the wearer's face.

While the invention has been described in terms of exemplaryembodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the inventioncan be practiced with modifications in the spirit and scope of theappended claims. For example, while the invention is described andillustrated herein in the form of a book, it may be implemented in anumber of other devices, such as hinged, flap-type consumer products(e.g., greeting cards or the like). These examples given above aremerely illustrative and are not meant to be an exhaustive list of allpossible designs, embodiments, applications or modifications of theinvention.

1. An interactive book having a mask thematically related to the subject of the interactive book, said book comprising: at least one foldable surface having at least one of textual and visual material thereon; and a mask detachably connected to said at least one foldable surface, said mask having a first compact position and a second expanded position, said mask being convertible between the first and second positions when said at least one foldable surface is folded or unfolded.
 2. The interactive book of claim 1, wherein said mask pops up from said at least one foldable surface as said at least one foldable surface unfolds.
 3. The interactive book of claim 2, wherein said at least one foldable surface comprises two adjoining pages.
 4. The interactive book of claim 1, wherein said mask is re-attachable to said at least one foldable surface.
 5. The interactive book of claim 4, further comprising an attachment device to detach and re-attach said mask to said at least one foldable surface repeatedly.
 6. The interactive book of claim 5, wherein said attachment device is at least one of a hook-or-loop type fastener, snap, magnet, clip and sticky glue.
 7. The interactive book of claim 1, wherein said mask comprises openings arranged corresponding to eyes of a wearer.
 8. The interactive book of claim 1, wherein said mask includes an elastic band connected to side portions of said mask.
 9. The interactive book of claim 8, wherein said mask further comprises tabs arranged on said side portions of said mask, said tabs being connected to said elastic band and configured to be bent backward when said mask is placed on a wearer's face.
 10. The interactive book of claim 1, wherein said mask is folded along a plurality of folding lines to at least partially separate the mask from said at least one foldable surface as said at least one foldable surface unfolds.
 11. An interactive greeting card having a mask thematically related to the subject of the interactive greeting card, said greeting card comprising: at least one foldable surface having at least one of textual and visual material thereon; and a mask detachably connected to said at least one foldable surface, said mask having a first compact position and a second expanded position, said mask being convertible between the first and second positions when said at least one foldable surface is folded or unfolded.
 12. The interactive greeting card of claim 11, wherein said mask pops up from said at least one foldable surface as said at least one foldable surface unfolds.
 13. The interactive greeting card of claim 12, wherein said at least one foldable surface comprises two adjoining pages.
 14. The interactive greeting card of claim 11, wherein said mask is re-attachable to said at least one foldable surface.
 15. The interactive greeting card of claim 14, further comprising an attachment device to detach and re-attach said mask to said at least one foldable surface repeatedly.
 16. The interactive greeting card of claim 15, wherein said attachment device is at least one of a hook-or-loop type fastener, snap, magnet, clip and sticky glue.
 17. The interactive greeting card of claim 11, wherein said mask comprises openings arranged corresponding to eyes of a wearer.
 18. The interactive greeting card of claim 11, wherein said mask includes an elastic band connected to side portions of said mask.
 19. The interactive greeting card of claim 18, wherein said mask further comprises tabs arranged on said side portions of said mask, said tabs being connected to said elastic band and configured to be bent backward when said mask is placed on a wearer's face.
 20. The interactive greeting card of claim 11, wherein said mask is folded along a plurality of folding lines to at least partially separate the mask from said at least one foldable surface as said at least one foldable surface unfolds. 